Resignation

Being firmly in the grip of the ancient hand of manifest destiny, I am taking my bride and moving west. This plan of action was set in motion well before I was hired into Secret Company over a year and a half ago, and has been openly discussed for the duration. I have enjoyed working with the BusinessManagement Sales Organization and the Central RegionOrderCenter and strongly believe that with people like this in its employ, Secret Co. will continue to do magnificent things in and to the telecommunications industry. I take with me many friendships, valuable knowledge and skills.
Unfortunately, the Secret Co. presence in the geographical region I am moving to is light, and it is because of this that I must tender my resignation for the position of Installation Specialist – 1.
Due to the sheer size of the project of moving all of my life 2000 miles west of my current location, I plan to terminate my at will employment on Friday, May 11, 2001.

First I had to tell Mr. Nice Manager IN PERSON that
I'll be leaving or quitting or resigning from my
position, take your pick. My breath was GONE
and my head was light and pounding like one of my
panic attacks coming on but I was already at the door
to his office and there was no way out.

I do not think my leaving is coming as a surprise to
anyone here. The endless refrain of all my status updates
and assessment meetings was "Girl you have Potential but
lately seem to be a bit distant". They were right. I was
scheming. I have my next position neatly lined up,
with one precise month of freedom from termination here
to new start date there. Out with the old, In with the
new. Huzzah! Now I can't stop GRINNING.

Having talked to him, the letter I sent my manager
was functional and brief:

Everything feels sweet today, and I am debating the use
of resignation as a word for what I am doing. To
me it is not a matter of surrender or patient submisison,
(like good old Webby says) but a decision of Power and
Freedom.

Conceding, in a game of chess. The player who resigns is giving up. Some players never resign; others will do it at the drop of a hat, i.e. their first mistake; I do whatever I feel like doing at the time. Speaking from personal experience, losing a game can cause one to suffer emotionally. Here are some reasons I might resign:

I made an obvious mistake causing me to lose power pieces (my oppponent has a material advantage). I can't possibly win because my opponent won't make any major mistakes. I shouldn't win because you have a clear advantage. For efficiency's sake, I'm done with this game, moving on to the next.

I play chess online with anonymous opponents. I don't get a chance to talk to them, but I try to understand why my opponent is resigning, if only for my own peace of mind. Usually, they have made too many mistakes due to inexperience or lack of focus. Sometimes, however, we have been evenly matched up to a certain point, that point being when I gain a material advantage. In this case, the resignation seems like a good stopping point, especially if the game has been highly symmetrical. For example, in a typical game, we both fight for the center with pawns, then castle to the king's side, and begin shifting power pieces looking for an advantageous position. The opponent has two rooks lined up attacking my bishop, where I have a queen clearly defending it and two knights nearby. Her rook captures my bishop and the rook is now attacking the queen while being defended by the other rook. But she failed to notice one of my knights was also defending, so I capture the rook, and she has effectively traded a rook for a bishop rather than winning a bishop outright. (Rooks have more value than bishops in the endgame because they can protect each other.) Realizing her error, she considers the game ruined. I respect that.